Ipswich firefighter Daniel Feeney standing next to a wolverine from Canada. Photo: Supplied

"I had the two and then I decided to get a third one for another part of that same room. There was an auction soon after that and I saw a guy's collection and I thought 'I like this' and I thought I would start heading towards a collection of my own," he said.

"Instead of putting pictures up in my house, I put a taxidermy animal instead."

More than150 pieces will be auctioned off at Ipswich showgrounds. Photo: Supplied

With a collection ranging from sloths to the "usual stuff" like zebras, Mr Feeney said he hadn't killed any of the animals and that every animal had been sourced legally, with many coming from zoos and farms.

"I have got a couple of really exotic things, I have a two-toed sloth from South America, a ring-tailed lemur from Africa and an African anteater, a Canadian black bear and a wolverine from Canada and all your usual stuff like zebras, stuff that everyone collects," he said.

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"Some of the exotic animals are animals that have died in zoos, they sell them.

"They are more natural history pieces. They are not hunting trophies or anything like that that normally people collect, I have gone into a lot of zoology specimens as well."

A taxidermy Black Bear is one of the items up for auction at Ipswich Showgrounds. Photo: Supplied

Each item is up for auction because the upkeep of the collection, stored in a five metre by 12.5 metre long shed, became too difficult Mr Feeney said, with each piece having to be washed, oiled, cleaned and at times frozen.